That's some beautiful common! You could sod someone's lawn with that stuff.
If I lived near you, I'd gladly take a few pieces for my bare spots.

Best of luck, and enjoy the process!

 

Appreciate it! After how much work I've put in so far I look at these pictures and think was all this really necessary?! haha

Thank you!

 

Holler if you need anything! Best of luck to you! It’s all in the prep.

 

Thank you sir, will do!

 

@Tim_Steel
Where did you get 1 pallet of Tahoma in the DFW area? I recently spoke with Buena Vista Turf Farms

Excited to see your progress and resutls!!

 

@cldrunner Yes sir, that's exactly where I'm getting it from. I'm renting a Uhaul to go pick it up next weekend, about an hour and 40min each way.

 

-April 4th was my first app of gly/fus combo

This was 5 days later...

-Apr 12-13th scalped to 2nd lowest on my rotary. Scalped edges as low as possible with my trimmer also trying to knock down all my high spots near the edges as well. Went ahead and upgraded my controller to a Rachio 3.

 

-Apr 19th check in had green growth popping up all over

-Apr 24th finally got a break from the rain so I decided to bring out the big guns and hit it with Soul Stealer combo app

-May 1st waited 7 days for full effect then did 2 passes down to lowest position on my rotary

At this point all of my neighbors thought I was going nuts and kept asking what the heck I was doing.

 

Hopefully you can tell from the pictures below I have a ton of high and low spots so I definitely had my work cut out for me in the prep work.

I have a pretty bad grade on this left side so I'm going to be installing some sort of edging along the bottom of that fence. It should help keep the sand in once I level and keep the unwanted grass & weeds from the other side, out.

 

Might be worth it to lay down one strip of sod along the fence line if you have enough..

 

-May 4th Sent in my soil test in the morning and power raked as much as I could. It sucked cause I got rained out towards the end of the day so I didn’t have a chance to pick up some of the dead matter on the grass but I manage to get some pictures before the downpour.

I used the power rake to really get in there and bring down those high spots around the edges still needed some more prep though.

 

-May 5th unfortunately we'd been dealing with a slab leak that week which still isn't fixed, need find a good plumber to come out and find the manifold to do a re route of that water line, thought about trying to do it myself as our attic has pretty easy access but not sure if I want to be taking on another big project right now. lol

Any way back to the lawn stuff... since the ground was still pretty soaked it was a mess just trying to pick up the rest of the dead grass so I decided to level out some areas instead. This whole area was probably about 2 inches above the cement, this was not easy but definitely satisfying afterwards.

 

-May 8th It was finally dry enough to go out and finish the clean up of all the dead grass. I went ahead and took out my Sun Joe scarifier and did multiple perpendicular passes to break up all the clumping from the mix of dead grass and mud. Followed it with my mower at the lowest setting to pick up as much as I could, got it down to practically bare dirt.

Fun fact on my Sun Joe I actually bought it on clearance for $60 at Lowes like a year and half ago, one of my best buys.

Started more leveling of the edges

I went ahead and called it that day, tough work!

 

-May 10th got my soil test back, here are the results.

Hoping someone can chime in but since I'll be leveling with an inch or 2 of sand should I amend the soil now or wait until after I throw the sand down?

 

-May 10th got my soil test back, here are the results.

View attachment 44857

Hoping someone can chime in but since I'll be leveling with an inch or 2 of sand should I amend the soil now or wait until after I throw the sand down?

I think most would recommend getting a more trusted soil test, something from a university if possible. Also, I don't really think you should worry that much about amending the soil (Chasing numbers on the soil test) and just focus on NPK, bermuda will grow through practically anything and look good as long as it has proper sunlight and water. Your common bermuda in the past looked like it was thriving with the soil you currently have. Just my thoughts on the subject.

 

-May 11th continued leveling and bringing down all my edges and other high spots throughout the lawn as you can see in the pictures below. If it’s one thing I’ve read on here it’s “spend more time on the prep work” I wanted to get the edges graded so it sits just right with the concrete after I level with sand.

So far its been a one man crew over here and I realized that I may have bit off more than I can chew and probably would not go through all this ever again so this has to work. 😅 Hunched over trying to get that perfect angle with the shovel for like 8 hours straight was not fun at all. We had another downpour on its way that night but good thing cause it was like 80 degrees with an overcast otherwise not sure how I would’ve made it through that day.

Pretty happy with the results so far, but pretty sure my neighbors are on the verge of having an intervention with me. 😂

Going to wait a couple days and spray another app of just glyphosate/ams mix and then probably one last time a few days before leveling with sand.

 

-May 15th sprayed Glyphosate/ams mix took these pictures the next day on the 16th and of course we got another downpour, the good thing is it was just right at 24 hours so I'm hoping it had enough time to do its thing.

I think I may need to drop a couple sprinkler heads, a few near the curb are sitting above the cement.
T-minus : 9 days to sprigging

 

Don't worry, common is so chonky compared to Tahoma you'll have no problem identifying and hand pulling anything missed after grow-in 😬

Seriously though, you've done a thorough prep and that final glyphosate spray is key. 24 hrs before that rain is plenty.

 

It really is, that's why I want to get rid of it completely or try at least. haha Yeah true, I think I may just have to accept that. Thanks bud

 

-May 18th Saturday, I went ahead and buried a down spout on one side of the house that continually gets eroded with the rain.

Found these guys while digging so I'll also need to spread another app of granular bifen insecticide and get that watered in really well.

Not sure if you can tell from these pictures below but we have so much clay in our area its like digging through Play-Doh unreal man.

Finally got it done though

 

-May 19th Sunday, I finally got around to cleaning my condenser units this year, while cleaning them I realized I need to solve another standing water issue, had been meaning to do it anyway as my neighbor has 2 down spouts that pour into that area every time it rains so I might as well knock that out before this grass gets established, the list never ends. 😫

 

-May 22nd update.... Unfortunately with all this rain here in NTX I have to postpone my soil/sand delivery and I spoke to the sod farm today as well and they won't be able to harvest until next week so I'll have to postpone the sprigging until next weekend. Maybe its a good thing, this gives me some time to hit the common with one more glyph app, still seeing green bits here and there popping up this stuff is practically indestructible 😂

Went to Lowes last night to buy all the drainage supplies

The plan is to bury 2 catch basins in that area about 10-15ft apart while connecting my downspout and running the drain all the way down, under the sidewalk, to the edge of the curb/street with a pop up emitter at the end.

Its about 60 feet in total, wish me luck 😅

811 came out pretty quick to mark the lines today as well.

 

@Tim_Steel

May 22nd update.... Unfortunately with all this rain here in NTX I have to postpone my soil/sand delivery and I spoke to the sod farm today as well and they won't be able to harvest until next week so I'll have to postpone the sprigging until next weekend.

What rain?😀 I bet that sod has been delayed. Looking forward to your post!

North Texas has seen over 10 inches of rainfall since beginning of May, per NWS

In the month of May, 7.8 inches of rain were recorded at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, records from the National Weather Service in Fort Worth show.

www.dallasnews.com

 

Excited to follow along! Nice prep work, wish I had the time to really nail in the leveling with sidewalks and driveways like you did but I had some timing constraints working against me. Get those sprinkers ready!!

 

I've definitely dropped the ball in posting updates had a lot going on these past 2 months, but this project has definitely come a long way. I've got a ton of progress pics so I'll post below...

-May 24th Finally got 10 yds of Sandy Loam delivered

-May 26th finally got the trench dug out

Of course it rained for the next couple days so that delayed the progress.

So I pumped I finally got myself a tank of a mower, oldie but goodie flathead.

-June 16th - Got my drainage laid all the way under the sidewalk and to the street with a pop up and with 3 total catch basins. I also reburied my Att fiber with the drain cause they only had it like 2 inches in the ground which is crazy to me.

-June 17th Rented this guy and got to work, best decision I made. So glad I did cause the initial plan was to just wheelbarrow it all over.

Got it as level as I could using the mini skid.

 

-June 19th The plan this whole time was to buy 1-2 pallets of T31 sod and sprig it all over the yard but plans shifted and ended up deciding to sod the entire yard instead which actually came as a blessing. With all this prep work I've done and the delays I can't wait to see results so much sooner.


I picked up and leveled a valve box by the curb and added some edging around my water meter so I can raise that whole area. Had a pretty bad dip before. I also went ahead and spread Lesco Carbon Pro G Soil optimizer and granular bifen insecticide.

-June 21st SOD DELIVERY DAY!!! Haven't been this excited for some grass since high school! Kidding!!😂

Ended up getting 5 pallets total...

And a visit from this massive thing lol

It took me and my pops a full day until like 11:30 at night to get it all laid down. That heat and humidity beat us up pretty good, pretty sure I dropped like 10lbs. lol

 

-June 21st SOD DELIVERY DAY!!! Haven't been this excited for some grass since high school! Kidding!!😂

That Yard is looking Dope!! 😀 Great that you just sodded the whole lawn. It looks great!

 

-June 24th progress pics...

-June 25th Progress Pics

I love how tightly spaced the internodes are on this stuff. This Tahoma is no joke!

-June 26th Progress pics... The have a few areas on the edges that are drying out so I need to adjust the sprinklers in those parts.

-June 29th Progress pics after adjusting a few heads those areas are starting to come back. The grass has already started rooting pretty well.

-June 30th Progress pics... Threw down some starter fertilizer Sta green 2 in 1 soil conditioner 18-24-8 mixed with Scotts MAX Southern Lawn Food 32-0-9 (cause I already had both) at .5 lbs/1000. I also sprayed a soil amendment , Garrett Juice Pro, stunk like crazy for a day but its loaded with all sorts of beneficial stuff for the lawn. I did 4oz per gallon and sprayed 4 gallons mixed solution across the entire lawn.

 

-July 3rd Progress pics... Starting to green up and fill in.

Also received my grooved front roller I ordered from @Reelrollers the shipping is crazy fast! So pumped to get rid of the shopping cart wheels and throw this on. Was debating on ordering the smooth or grooved since its new sod and still have a bumpy yard, which I will be sand leveling soon, but from what I read the consensus was the grooved produced a better cut and better traction for straighter lines, what do you all prefer? Hoping to get my first mow on this sod either this Sat or Sun.

 

Happy 4th y'all!!

After seeing the lawn today I realize I need a new spreader cause it clearly shows the granules are getting stuck inside the plastic wheels of my scotts spreader. Moving forward I'll be spraying AMS at .5lbs per 1ksqft every two weeks so shouldn't be too much of an issue.

 

Moving forward I'll be spraying AMS at .5lbs per 1ksqft every two weeks so shouldn't be too much of an issue

Might want to add some iron as well.

Quest Main Event Dry Fe 6-0-0, 3lb

Quest Main Event Dry Fe 6-0-0, 3lb: 100% Chelated micro-nutrients are specially formulated to correct nutrient deficiencies in soil and plant tissue through blended extended release chelation technology. 10%Fe 8%S 2%Mn 1%Mg 0.5%Zn. Non Staining Micro-nutrients.

www.grandarborsupply.com

 

Yeah we're scraping the 100's lately, that heat and humidity has been no joke. I'm definitely going to start off with that then, thanks for the info!